June 18, 2013

elsie - four months

written June 11th

Oh my word we are already a third of the way through Elsie's first year!  How on Earth do they grow up so fast?  You'd think I'd be ready for it, it seemed like Ryann's first year went by at lightning speed, but Elsie's is going even faster.

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Girlfriend is still growing like a weed, but there is finally a difference between her and Ryann's stats.  At the doctor she weighed in at 13 pounds 9.8 ounces (51st percentile) and measured 24.75 inches long (68th percentile).  Ryann outweighed Elsie by 5 ounces, but they were the same length.  The peditrician said that Elsie looked great, very healthy.  She assured me that E had met all the milestones they like to see by now (I wasn't sure since Ry was rolling both ways at four months).  Overall just a healthy happy kid.  She said there was no need to start solids if I didn't want to (which I don't) and that four months is the prime time to start teaching babies to go to sleep on their own.  So, uh, I guess we're going to work on that.

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Elsie is now wearing mostly 3-6 month clothing.  I can still use some of the 0-3 dresses as tops, but girl must have long legs or something, because some of the 3-6 month leggings already look short on her!  Not cool, E, not cool.  Don't grow out of stuff so fast, ok?  At home I've been putting her in a size one diaper, but my mom had a box of two's at her house, and they work just fine.  So once our one's run out it is on to two's.  Little miss dropped one of her nursing sessions, so we're down to 5-6 a day, and she takes 3-4 naps a day, depending on when she wakes up and what our schedule is like.

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Speaking of sleep, I'm knocking on everything wood I can find, but it has been SO much better in the last, maybe, 10 days?  Seriously she must be able to read my blog or God heard me praying for sleep, because right after I wrote this post she slept through the night three nights in a row.  Like 10 hours straight.  It is GLORIOUS.  Of course she is still swaddled and still sleeping in the rock 'n play, two habits I really want to break soon, but now I don't want to mess anything up.  Sometimes she still fights going to sleep for night and naps, but it could definitely be worse.  Bedtime is between 8-9pm and we're up for the day between 6-7am.  All just depending on how the naps work out and if she wakes in the middle of the night to eat.

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In terms of naps, Elsie usually takes one decent early morning nap, and then is up for a bit while we run errands, go to gymnastics, go to the gym, etc, because she absolutely WILL NOT stay asleep in her carseat.  Even if we are still driving she lasts maybe 30 minutes.  Thankfully she doesn't get excessively cranky even when I can tell she's tired.  So she sticks it out through our morning adventures, and then if I'm lucky both girls will be having quiet time / napping for 2+ hours at the same time.  I feel bad that she is up longer than she probably should be some days, but, um, dual naps?  Happy dance.  E will then take one more evening nap, which is usually only 45 minutes or so.

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Miss Elsie still isn't a fan of rolling over.  She has rolled belly to back probably six or seven times the last month, but just really isn't consistent.  Instead she lays on her stomach, shoves her face in to the floor, tucks her legs in and pushes forward in some sort of awful inchworm style crawl.  I don't get it.  Girl is going to get rug (blanket) burn on her face.  She also sometimes tries to roll back to belly, but has yet to figure it out.  Her arm and hand coordination continues to improve, and she has started grabbing her feet (May 19th).  Which of course is the cutest thing ever.

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But the absolutely positively cutest thing ever?  Baby giggles.  Elsie laughed for the first time while we were on the airplane to Georgia.  I was so excited she was laughing, but pissed because the plane was so damn loud I couldn't hear it very well.  Sometimes it is tough to get her going, but if you do oh my word, it just melts my heart.  E is also quite the chatter box (when Ry isn't all up in her face of course).  The way she tries to 'talk' is absolutely hilarious.  It is very forced, muffled, and nasally.  It isn't your typical cooing noise.  Makes me laugh every time.

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Chris has given Elsie the nickname Honey Bear, because Ry makes him read the Bearinstein Bear books all the time.  I've stuck with Elsie Belsie girl.  And Ry?  She calls Elsie whatever she is wearing.  It is too cute, "Hey there polka dots!" "Hi flowers!" or "Hello stripes!"  I love it.

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Were pretty sure E's favorite song is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  She loves trying to stand, and is much sturdier than I'd expect her to be.  Sometimes she thinks it is funny when you drag a burp cloth over her face again and again.  She doesn't seemed overly attached to any toys, but she does enjoy Jacques the Peacock.  Elsie spends lots of time just watching her sissy run around like a nut.  And she certainly cranes her neck in the direction of TVs and computers (bad technology, BAD!).

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Elsie girl, I love you.  When you're around I have trouble doing anything but hanging out with you.  Your smile lights up the room.  I'm so excited to watch you grow and grow.  Just don't do it too fast.

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